Undergirding Mitt Romney’s trip to Europe and Israel this week was a single concept: President Obama has weakened the view of America in the eyes of foreign leaders thanks to a policy of appeasement and “apology.” How the world views America is important, Romney said, and he’s going to see to it that America’s reputation overseas is bolstered on his watch.

Within 24 hours of Romney landing abroad, that premise had unraveled and Romney’s own top surrogates were scoffing at the notion that foreign opinions of America mattered at all to American voters.

Romney undermined his own message even before he left for London, when he told a fundraiser audience in San Francisco Sunday night that America was in decline, and that the foreign minister of Australia had told him so (the foreign minister denied he put it just that way).

“This idea of America in decline, it was interesting he said that, he led the talk of America being in decline,” Romney said about his conversation with the Australian official. “See that’s not talk we hear about here as much as they’re hearing there. And if they’re thinking about investing in America, entrepreneurs putting their future in America, if they think America’s in decline they’re not gonna do it.”

That’s Romney making it crystal clear that headlines overseas are pretty important here in the U.S.